This weekend it was off to Stone Harbor, NJ for a few days at the beach. We traveled with some friends and, though dogs were not allowed on the beach, we still found quality time to spend with Avi.

...like on Saturday, when he woke us up at 5:00 am to be walked and then refused to go back to sleep.(Did I forget to mention that we spent the evening at the boardwalk at Wildwood and, even though we got back to the house and the dogs around midnight, we didn't actually go to bed until somewhere around 1:30am?!)...or on Sunday, when he woke us up a little past 4:15 am to be walked. This time I slept out on the couch following the walk while he slept below me.(Oops... did I forget to mention that at around 6:30 am Aimee came out to lay with us. After sleeping for a little while, Avi woke Aimee up by pawing at her and accidentally scratching her then-open eye?!)

Aimee was an excellent sport and, after wiping away the tears of being temporarily maimed, she garnered a bandaged eye patched and concealed beneath her sunglasses during a day of shop-hopping in Stone Harbor.

On the bright side, Avi had a chance to run around a fenced yard with Eza, a weimaraner/chocolate lab mix who is able to tear through squeaky toy ducks and seamlessly wear down once-thought-indestructible Nylabones if given an unsupervised chance. She was a quick lady and Avi only managed to hump her hip one time.

Poor boy. She was a good sport, but he just doesn't understand how to charm a lady yet.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Just when Avi was finally settling in with our best dog buddy, Ben, the poor Berner was subjected to a vicious, degrading act of hate and... oh... who are we kidding?! The boy is just too curious for his own good, and this time his curiosity led to getting peed on.... in the face.

Avi, a good soldier and never one to leave a man behind, was going back to check on Benjamin while Ben was lifting his leg to water the plants on the hill. Avi walked into the line of fire and, needless to say, was recklessly gunned down. (okay, okay... it was just a stream across the nose... but it was a hit, regardess!)

The remaining walk back to the apartment was uneventful, aside from Aimee desperately avoiding Avi as tried to nuzzle up against her. (before we cleaned his nose, of course!)

Friday, July 4, 2008

Our buddy Angel has been spending the week at Casa de Winner. NOTE: Her super-curly hair feels even cooler when she lays under your bare feet!

It's been kinda nice to have a labradoodle on call for that much-needed doggy affection, and Angel is just the girl for the job! She gives kisses all the time... never excluding just after she belches, following sniffing Avi's rear end, or even after she's groomed herself.

It took the two a little bit of time to grow accustomed to one another (Angel has spent time at our place before, and has met Avi before, but never both of these exciting experiences at the same time). He tried to exercise dominance. She stole some of his toys. They both took their shots at peeing on the puppy bed. But eventually, somewhere around day 3, they just gave up and played.

She plays very well with him, taking turns pinning him to the ground then letting Avi exercise his strength. Avi's favorite attack-combo was to strike for her collar, pull the belt away from the clasp, and then parade around the apartment with his Ultimate Fighting Championship belt, her red collar, dangling from his mouth.

All-in-all, it's been a great experience. It's actually funny that Avi, a 4-month old berner, is not much smaller than Angel, who's a little over 2 years old... yet he plays like he's already a giant among men.

Avi Wordle

About Our Berner

Notes from the life of an elementary teacher librarian. Matthew (aka The Busy Librarian) is an elementary teacher librarian, an avid gamer, a persistent reader, an author (of this blog and a forthcoming Wii Learning professional resource), an exceptional father, and a first-rate husband.